Why Eric Garner Couldn’t Breathe

[eridani]

http://inthesetimes.com/article/17518/why_eric_garner_couldnt_breathe

And then, Garner’s second cause of death: positional asphyxia caused by “compression of chest and prone positioning.” Even when used alone, extended prone restraint—placing a suspect facedown, hogtied or with hands cuffed behind—has caused untold in-custody deaths by suffocation and is therefore prohibited by many police departments, including the NYPD. But when officers also kneel or push on the restrained person’s back or neck, as they did with Garner, the danger of positional asphyxia escalates. And when the suspect has been pepper sprayed, is intoxicated or has medical conditions such as Garner’s—obesity, asthma and a weak heart—the danger skyrockets.

Dr. Michael Baden, former NYC chief medical examiner and later State Police chief forensic pathologist, who was hired by the Garner family to review the autopsy report, told the New York Times: “Obese people especially, lying face down, prone, are unable to breathe when enough pressure is put on their back. The pressure prevents the diaphragm from going up and down, and he can’t inhale and exhale.’’

The cell phone video shows that even after Pantaleo released the chokehold, and Garner was cuffed, hundreds of pounds of cop flesh pushed down on him. His struggle against that weight was evidence not of vitality and aggression, but rather of desperation to change position so that he could breathe.

“The natural reaction to oxygen deficiency occurs—the person struggles more violently,” a 1995 National Law Enforcement Technology Center bulletin warned. The struggle aggravates the asphyxia by increasing the heart rate and causing carbon dioxide to build up in the lungs.

[BlueCaliDem]

1. I'm still so incredibly heart broken over this.

There are no words to describe the depth of sadness I feel over Eric Gardner's horrific death, or Trayvon Martin's, or Tamir Rice's, or Michael Brown's, or any other unnecessary deaths by Black men, young and older, who did nothing wrong other than being born with the wrong skin color in this country.

Heart broken. [URL=http://www.sherv.net/][IMG][/IMG][/URL]